Speaking of Oscar, we have now had him for exactly one year! On New Year's Day last year we drove out to the Eastern Shore of Maryland and picked him up. He has come a long way in one year and now is generally well behaved. He still has a lot of puppy energy, but not as many obnoxious tendencies as he had in his first 8 months or so. To the left is a picture of him opening his Christmas present from Billy's parents.
I was able to fly back to Oregon to see the family on Christmas day. Although it sounds like an inconvenience, this actually worked out quite well. It allowed me to spend Christmas Eve with Billy and his family and I got back to OR at about noon on Christmas day. The airports and planes weren't as busy as they probably would have been if I'd left a few days before. It also gave me some time to rest and relax between the end of school and a long day of traveling. While I was only home for a few days, I made good use of my time.
Aside from spending the usual time with the family, I also got to have dinner with Mom, Vickie, and Brent over at his house. Vickie celebrated her 18th birthday on the 27th... it's hard to believe she's an "adult"! I was glad to meet some of her friends that I've heard about and Ryan, who she has been talking to for a while. She seems to be enjoying her senior year, and listening to her with all her friends took me back to being that age. In some ways its hard to believe that was 6 years ago... but sometimes it seems like even longer. I also got a chance to spend some time at Krista's new condo, which she and Tina moved into over Thanksgiving. They have it nicely decorated and it feels like a home already. They, along with Kelsey, prepared quite a feast for all of us, and the food was so good that I voluntarily ate vegetables! To the right is a picture of me and Krista at her place. I also went to The Old Spaghetti Factory with Dad, and it is always fun to sit down and talk to him one on one. Plus, I love spumoni! Everyone back home seems to be doing very well in my absence, which is comforting to me.I returned to Maryland on Dec 30, and last night went to a New Year's Eve Party with Billy, his parents, his brother Brian, and Brian's girlfriend Casey. We all went out to dinner beforehand, which gave me a chance to catch up with them about their Christmas. We also discussed some preliminary plans to go on a cruise this summer for Billy's parents' 25th wedding anniversary, which I am really looking forward to. The party was at the house of one of their family friends, so it was nice to ring in 2006 in a relaxing, controlled setting. Spending time crammed into a small space with thousands of drunk people is not my idea of fun. :) Below are pictures from the party (Me and Billy, and Brian and Casey).
This holiday season has really helped me appreciate the life I get to lead these days. I didn't realize how easy it was to get caught up in my day to day responsibilities without thinking much about all the ways I've been blessed in the past year. To be in a healthy relationship with someone I love, to have a job that I enjoy which pays me enough to live comfortably, and to have supportive family and friends are all great things individually... but I feel truly lucky to have found them all at age 23. Opening the mail box over the past month and finding the Christmas cards from all over the country has really helped me realize that wherever I am, I'm not too far from people who care about me. Although I do not get to see everyone nearly as much as I'd like, I feel happy to have everyone in my corner. I am glad to have had the chance to see many of you over the break and to have you all in my life. I hope that 2006 brings all of you as much love, happiness, and success as I was able to find in 2005!
